Demetrius I Soter

Who was Demetrius I Soter?

Demetrius I, surnamed Soter, was a ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire.

Demetrius was sent to Rome as a hostage during the reign of his father Seleucus IV Philopator and his mother Laodice IV. When his father was murdered by his finance minister Heliodorus in 175 BC., his uncle Antiochus IV Epiphanes killed the usurper, but usurped the throne himself. When Antiochus IV died in 163 BC., his 9-year-old boy son Antiochus V Eupator was made king by Lysias. Demetrius was then 22 years old. He requested the Roman Senate to restore the Syrian throne to him, but was rejected, since the Romans believed that Syria should be ruled by a boy rather than a man. Two years later, Antiochus V was greatly weakened because Rome sent an emissary to sink his ships and hamstring his elephants for his violation of the Peace of Apamea, storing up too much weaponry. Demetrius escaped from confinement and was welcomed back on the Syrian throne in 161 BC. He immediately killed Antiochus V and Lysias.

Demetrius I is infamous in Jewish history for his victory over the Maccabees, killing Judas Maccabaeus in Nisan, 160 BC.